Worth Knowing

• Anea has co-founded a brand new tampon company, TrueMoon! Did you know that the average woman will use over 11,000 tampons in her lifetime, and that the traditional brands of tampons contain dioxins from the bleaching process? (The EPA states that NO amount of dioxin exposure is safe.) AND did you know that your cycle isn’t just ‘those days,’ but an entire, 28-ish day cycle full of shifting hormones? Anea and co-founder Shelli Wright have since made it their mission not only to provide a healthier alternative with a 100% organic tampon, but they are also campaigning for a healthier attitudetoward menstruation. This powerful part of being female was revered in ancient societies, but girls and women today feel a societal shame and taboo around menstration. Anea and Shelli seek to break the taboo by educating girls and women about their entire cycle and the benefits that can be found in each phase of the cycle so women can begin working with their bodies instead of against them and find greater empowerment in this natural, magical part of female body. For more information, please visit www.mytruemoon.com.

• Anea introduces: Be a REALgirl®, Not a MEANgirl Anti-bullying Workshops:
  – Raising awareness on “mean girl” behavior and bullying
  – Raising self-esteem to combat bullying
  – Providing tools to create internal and external positive change in girlsContact Anea to discuss bringing this powerful and transformative workshop to your school: email or call 323.580.7048

• Have you ever met someone who you know is doing the work they are meant to do in the world?  I knew I had when I met Anea Bogue, Self Esteem expert and Life Coach.  Anea’s meission: Helping women and girls find and claim their inner power so that they can reach their full potential.
  So what does self esteem have to do with conflict? Quite a bit.  Join us we discuss the challenges of raising teen girls and how self esteem – mother’s and daughter’s alike – plays a role in this delicate relationship. Make Peace at Home Radio Interview (07-03-12) or visit the press page here.

• If God is a man, where does that leave women? If all the power rests with a man, women are left to find their power by attracting the right man. That puts girls and women in competition with each other rather than supporting one another for mutual empowerment. In fact, when viewed in terms of human development, patriarchy serves no one. It limits men, while it cripples girls and women. – Anea BogueListen to this eye-opening conversation, with Dr. Nancy from ‘Women Speak Radio’ and Anea Bogue, about how women can peel back layers of programming to claim our true power on Women Speak Radio or visit the press page here.

• Empower yourself, empower a girl… empower the world.

• It’s Time To Represent the REAL Me!The film Miss Representation exposes how American youth are being sold the concept that women and girls’ value lies in their youth, beauty and sexuality. It’s time to break that cycle of mistruths. It is part of the curriculum for REALgirl and a must-see for all girls and women.

  REALgirl® is a stand for breaking this cycle and is proud to present this brilliant documentary!

  About the film
  Like drawing back a curtain to let bright light stream in, Miss Representation (90 min; TV-14 DL) uncovers a glaring reality we live with every day but fail to see. Written and directed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the film exposes how mainstream media contribute to the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America. The film challenges the media’s limited and often disparaging portrayals of women and girls, which make it difficult for women to achieve leadership positions and for the average woman to feel powerful herself.
  In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 90th in the world for women in national legislatures, women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media, and 65% of women and girls have disordered eating behaviors.
  Stories from teenage girls and provocative interviews with politicians, journalists, entertainers, activists and academics, like Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Margaret Cho, Rosario Dawson and Gloria Steinem build momentum as Miss Representation accumulates startling facts and statistics that will leave the audience shaken and armed with a new perspective.

• A wonderful new website that showcases books and movies that show girls in a positive, courageous light!!! A Mighty Girl

• “A cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female obedience.” ― Naomi Wolfe

• “Dear Friend,Black Friday has passed, but we know the shopping madness in America is only beginning.

  Over the next few weeks, millions of people in this country (and in places all around the world) will spend many millions of dollars on gifts for family, friends and loved ones. So what better time to take action around our spending habits? Voting with our money is one of the most powerful ways we can impact the society we live in.

  That’s why we are launching a campaign on Twitter, inspired by Girls For a Change, to keep track of the positive choices we make when buying gifts this year. If you see a product or advertisement that misrepresents or degrades women – whether in a store, online or in a magazine – here’s what you can do to make a difference:

  1. On Twitter, post a description or picture of the offensive item with this hashtag: #notbuyingit

  ex. “The ads displayed at Abercrombie & Fitch are degrading to women. I wanted this sweater but now I’m #notbuyingit”

  2. If you’re not on Twitter, send us an e-mail (imran@missrepresentation.org) about what you’ve seen and why it bothers you, and we will post it for you!

  If enough of us publicly tell these companies that we won’t buy into their offensive advertising or products, we can get their attention and see real change happen! In the past few months alone, we’ve seen corporations as big as JCPenney and Forever 21 change practices in reaction to public outcry.

  We really appreciate your continued support of our campaign and all the small actions each of you are taking daily. We are reading all your stories of courage and commitment and look forward to many more to come. So keep sending them in!”

  Hosted & Posted by MissRepresentation.org and inspired by Girls For Change

• “It’s not easy to talk to anyone about the changes your body is going through—especially the private changes. You want to know everything but you don’t want to feel uncomfortable learning about it. So how do you get answers to your questions? How do you find the reassurance that everything is going okay and figure out what to expect next?” Taking Care of Your “Girls” by Marisa Weiss, M.D. and daughter Isabel Friedman

• If you want to end poverty and help the developing world, the best thing you can do is invest time, energy, and funding into adolescent girls. It’s called the Girl Effect, because girls are uniquely capable of investing in their communities and making the world better. But here are 10 things that stand in their way: (Know More)

• Parenting Alert: Dangerous websites for teen girls (Learn More)

• “I am proposing that we reconceive the dream. That we consider what would happen if security were not the point of our existence. That we find freedom, aliveness, and power not from what contains, locates, and protects us, but from what dissolves, reveals and expands us.” – Eve Ensler

• “Self-respect cannot be hunted. It cannot be purchased. It is never for sale. It cannot be fabricated out of public relations. It comes to us when we are alone, in quiet moments, in quiet places, when we suddenly realize that, knowing the good, we have done it; knowing the beautiful, we have served it; knowing the truth, we have spoken it.”
  -Whitney Griswold

• “The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” -Anna Quindlen

• Imagine a MotherImagine a mother who turns toward herself with interest.
  A mother who acknowledges her own feelings and thoughts.
  Whose capacity to be available to her family deepens as she is available to herself.

  Imagine a mother who lives in harmony with her heart.
  A mother who trusts her impulses to expand and contract.
  Who knows that everything changes in the fullness of time.

  Imagine a mother who embodies her spirituality.
  A mother who honors her body as the sacred temple of the spirit of life.

  Who breathes deeply as a prayer of gratitude for life itself.
  Imagine this mother is you.

  – Patricia Lynn Rielly

• Manifesto Men: A site for men who are committed to growing more conscious in every way, and for the women who love and support them. Here you can read our Manifesto for Conscious Men, watch the video Dear Woman and connect with others around a variety of topics. We worship women here, so if you’re a woman, we welcome you to join these lively discussions.

• The world is in urgent need of women’s leadership and feminine qualities. Skilled in networking, building relationships, communicating, cooperating, collaborating and getting things done, women weave together the well- being of mates, children, family, workplaces, friends, communities and the environment. Now is THE time for women to change the present destructive course and create cooperative, compassionate and successful ways to live together on the planet. –Women Walk the Land

• “I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.”
  –Maya Angelou, African-American poet, Pulitzer Prize winning writer, activist and performer 
• “When a woman reclaims her divine identity, she does not need to seek outer sources of approval, for a firm, unshakable basis for self-esteem emanates from the depths of her own being.”  -Miranda Shaw,Passionate Enlightenment

• “Killing Us Softly” by Jean Kilbourne is an excellent resource for any mother interested in educating her daughter(s) on the effects of media and advertising in our world today.

• “A woman is the full circle.  Within her is the power to create, nurture, and transform.” – Diane Mariechild, author of Mother of Wit

• Just as little as 5 minutes a day of a green activity (gardening, nature walks, etc.) can boost both mood and self-esteem. For women, whose bodies are powerfully connected to nature, this is especially true.

• “The probability of a woman giving birth to a baby girl instead of a baby boy increases significantly the nearer the mother lives to the equator. While the cause of this gender selection is unknown, scientists believe the constant sunlight hours and abundant food supply in tropical regions may favor female births.” – Discovery News

• “1 in 3 adolescent girls has been a victim of physical or emotional abuse from a dating partner.” – Interpersonal and Physical Violence Among Teens, 2008 

  Your teen may be experiencing patterns of an unhealthy relationship if:
  Your Teen:
  • Apologizes and/or makes excuses for his/her partner’s behavior.
  • Loses interest in activities that he/she used to enjoy.
  • Stops seeing friends and family members and becomes more and more isolated.
  • Casually mentions the partner’s violent behavior, but laughs it off as a joke.
  • Often has unexplained injuries or the explanations often don’t make sense.
  The Partner:
  • Calls your teen names and puts him/her down in front of others.
  • Acts extremely jealous of others who pay attention to your teen.
  • Thinks or tells your teen that you, the parent(s), don’t like them.
  • Controls your teen’s behavior, checking up constantly, calling or texting, and demanding to know who he/she has been with.”
  -Elin Stebbins Waldal

• “When girls fail to acknowledge their own feelings, they further the development of a false self. Only by staying connected to their emotions and by slowly working through the turbulence can young women emerge from adolescence strong and whole.” – Mary Pipher, Ph.D., Reviving Ophelia
  

• “When girls and women earn income, they reinvest 90 percent of it in their families, as compared to 30 to 40 percent for a man.” – Girleffect.org

• “Ancient cultures were matriarchal – matri (mother) arche (beginning), beginning with mother.” – Vicki Noble, Shakti Woman

• “Most cultures around the world either use, or have used, such birthing positions as kneeling, squatting, sitting, and standing for labor and delivery.” Lauren Dundes, MHS, The Evolution of the Maternal Birthing Position

• Is your daughter heading back to school? Anea has 9 things you can remind her of to make sure she makes the most of the coming new school year…

• “Imagine a woman who has relinquished the desire for intellectual safety and approval. A woman who makes a powerful statement with every word she speaks, every action she takes. Who asserts to herself the right to reorder the world.” – Patricia Lynn Reilly, Imagine a Woman in Love with Herself

• “A woman… must learn to lead from the womb. To move our attention from the head to the belly, from the mind to the body, a woman must learn to read the signals and learn to trust them. Otherwise she will never be sure of the difference between her intuition and those little fearful voices in her head that tell her to be cautious, careful, stop, don’t, and so on.” – Vicki Noble, Shakti Woman

• We are always on stage for our daughters. Thus, we must embody the qualities we so desire for her. If we do not demonstrate strong, confident, assertive, self-loving, healthy behavior, her chances of valuing and developing these qualities in her self are significantly diminished.

• Research now confirms that the average girl’s self-esteem peaks at the age of 9 and then plummets.

• 7 out of 10 girls believe they are not good enough or do not measure up in some way, including their looks, performance in school and relationships with friends and family members.

• More than half of all mothers of girls criticize their own looks.

• By the time an adolescent girl graduates from high school, she will have spent about 15,000 hours with the media, while only having spent 12,000 hours in school. The media is cited as the number one source of pressure to be thin and to reach an unrealistic standard of beauty.

• 3 out of 4 girls with low self-esteem reported engaging in negative activities such as disordered eating, cutting, bullying, smoking, drinking and using drugs when feeling badly about themselves.